Dear !*TITLE*! !*LASTNAME*!,
After a very busy first half of 2016 with a record 13 events (only 16 in all of 2015) we will now take a "breather" and also give you some time-off as we have no events in July. But the office will be open, except 20 July - 2 August.
The last event before the summer break was the Joint Chamber Summer Reception organized by the Canadian Chamber on Thursday, 23 June.
Read more below!
We start our autumn season with the traditional Yakatabune cruise, the "Finnair AY4159 - Finn Tour FT4120 Code Share Cruise" on Friday, 26 August. We have only 17 seats left of the 70 available, so sign up soon if you plan to join! Read more below.
Most of our events for the latter half of 2016 are also fixed. In September we will have a Club Evening on the 26th with the theme "Retailing in Japan by Finnish Eyes" (details in my next bulletin) and on Friday, 7 October the 14th Mercedes-Benz Cole Haan Cup - the North America - Europe Golf Challenge in Japan - is played. Registration is now open for that event, so all golfers, read more below.
For the current event schedule until end of 2016, click here!
Also this week we have a new contribution from our columnist in "Aoyama View", this time titled: "UK splits, shakes EU, even Japan".
Needless to say, a large part is dedicated to Brexit, but also Japanese politics and business and other current affairs.
Click banner at right to find out more!

Friday, 26 August - FCCJ Yakatabune Event
Finnair AY4159 - Finn Tour FT4120 Code Share Cruise
Based on the success of last six year's cruises we have again decided to start off the FCCJ Autumn season in style and with some great fun, please join us for the Finnair AY4159 - Finn Tour FT4120 Code Share Yakatabune Cruise on Friday, 26 August. Thnaks to our aponsors, the participation fee for members and their guests are substantially subsidized.
We have chartered our own Yakatabune boat. It starts at Asakusa touring down Sumida River to Odaiba and back in 2.5 hours. During the cruise you could enjoy a great Japanese tempura-sashimi dinner and drinks in the "all-you-can-eat & drink" style. For images from last year's event, click here.

Date & Time:

Friday, 26 August, 18.30-21:00

Embarkation:

Funayado Miuraya, 1-1-10, Asakusabashi, Taito-ku
, Tokyo

Cost:

9,000 yen for members, non-members 12,000 yen

Registration:

by Friday, 20 August

We expect the event to be sold out this year as well, so please sign up soon to secure your seats!
For more information and registration form for the event, click links at right.

Friday, 9 October - The North-America - Europe Golf Challenge in Japan Mercedes-Benz Cole Haan Cup 2016 - Registration Open!
We are pleased to announce that the 14th North America - Europe Golf Challenge in Japan - the Mercedes-Benz - Cole Haan Cup - will be played on Friday, 7 October, at the same venue as in previous years, the Atsugi Kokusai Country Club in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The organizing task-force, Mercedes-Benz Japan and Cole Haan Japan are working hard to make the event a memorable one for all participants. Also this year we will have an After-Party held on Wednesday, 12 October at Mercedes-Benz Connection. Free for the players and their significant other.
Registration
The registration for the event has now been opened. The participation fees are a 3,000 yen non-refundable registration fee and a 21,700 yen fee (paid to the club after play). The total fee of 24,700 yen covers, the green fee, caddie, lunch, beverages, buffet at the awards reception, and fantastic prizes.
It is important that you sign-up early because we expect this year's event, as last year, will be fully booked well in advance of the registration dead-line.
Note that bus transportation is free for the 40 first to sign-up for it.
Sponsoring the event
If you want to promote your company through this event, and its web site, please sign up as a sponsor.
Your contribution could be either money or goods/services. Sponsorship starts from 40,000 yen (100,000 yen in goods services).
To sign-up as player and/or sponsor, please click link at right.

Thursday, 23 June -
Joint Chamber event organized by CCCJ Report from the Summer Reception 2016
On Thursday, 23 June one of the most popular joint chamber functions of the year, the Joint Chamber Summer Reception attracted a crowd of about 260 business people from 12 chambers, for an evening of great food, drink, fun and networking.
This event was organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan with support and participants from: Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Japan, British Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan, German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce, Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
For a report from the event, please click link at right.

JETRO Request for Cooperation for Survey on Japan's Investment Climate
JETRO is currently carrying out its 2016 online survey about the difficulties and obstacles that foreign-affiliated companies are facing in Japan, and also about the attractions of doing business in Japan.
In the 2015 survey, "complicated business systems and structures", "difficulty in finding human resources" and "difficulty in communicating in non-Japanese languages" were the most common answers about obstacles to doing business in Japan. This year, JETRO is looking for some specific examples of these issues so that the problems can be eliminated at a technical level as the government has committed to making such improvements.
You find the survey HEREDeadline for completing the survey is 4 July and we encourage members, especially foreign affiliates headquartered in Europe, to contribute to this endeavour by taking the fairly short time needed to respond to the questions (the majority of which are of the box-ticking variety).
JETRO conducted the same type of survey in July-August 2015, and the results are reported in the JETRO Invest Japan Report 2015.

Academic study: Finland's brand very strong in Japan
It has been a while since the "Nordic boom" spread across Japan, but up until now, there has been no official study on just how the Japanese think about the Nordic countries. Three researchers conducted an online survey in April 2016, to explore how the Japanese think about Finland, Sweden and Denmark. The results were announced at the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo on June 9, where about 50 guests from tourism and consumer businesses gathered to listen on with keen interest.
For more about the study from the Embassy's web site, click link at right.

Finn Studying at Hitotsubashi University Looking for Traineeship
Mr. Mikael Lukjanov, a Finn studying for a MBA at Hitotsubashi University's International Corporate Strategy department, is looking for a nine week traineeship during the period 1 September to 31 December. The work training as part of the program and without any salary.
Mr. Lukjanov is expected to graduate in August 2017 and is planning to stay permanently in Japan, if he finds a suitable job.
If you would like to know more about him, click lick at right for his CV.

News from FinlandPM Sipilä "disappointed" over Brexit vote
Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipilä says that he is 'disappointed' by the British EU referendum result. Sipilä said that EU countries have to look in the mirror and think of ways to strengthen the 27-member bloc.
Britain's vote to leave the European Union has sparked seismic shocks across the continent, and Finland is no exception. Speaking on Midsummer's Eve - the start of a holiday weekend in Finland - Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said on Friday that political leaders now have to abide by the result.
"This was undeniably a disappointment, but of course we respect Great Britain's own decision and the result of the referendum," said Sipilä.
"Sure we'll get through this. The market reactions look quite strong, but the European project will continue."
Sipilä added that he was confident European institutions had prepared for a possible Brexit, but that the message of the referendum voters should be taken seriously.
"Every country should learn the lessons of this," said Sipilä. "Criticism has to be taken seriously in every decision. We should especially find better ways to decide things together. We have made good decisions on many things, but the realisation of some of them has remained half-undone."

Grin of the WeekSalary According to Challenge?
A Manager of a retail clothing store is reviewing a potential employee's application and notices that the man has never worked in retail before.
He says to the man, "For a man with no experience, you are certainly asking for a high wage."
"Well Sir," the applicant replies, "the work is so much harder when you don't know what you are doing!"

If you have any comments, rumors, gossip or inside information, send it to: fccj@gol.com

ABOUT THIS BULLETIN
This bulletin is
published by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan (FCCJ) and
distributed to over 700 recipients among its members and related
organizations. FCCJ was established in April 1999 to promote trade and
economic exchange between Japan and Finland and has today 64 corporate
members, 12 individual and one special member.